This invention relates to the art of material handling and, more particularly, to improved apparatus for palletizing sheet material.
The present invention finds particular utility in connection with the palletizing of sheet metal onto a conveyor at the discharge end of a shearing press, which conveyor facilitates transferring the palletized sheet metal laterally away from the press with respect to the direction of discharge of the press. Accordingly, the invention will be described herein in detail in conncetion with such a press and conveying arrangement. However, it will be understood that the invention is applicable to the palletizing of sheet material other than metal sheets, to the palletizing of sheet material received from a source other than a shearing press, and to the palletizing of sheet material on a support arrangement other than a conveyor.
Palletizing apparatus has been provided heretofore in association with the discharge end of a metal shearing press and by which sheets of metal up to a given length are stacked on a pallet or pallets on a conveyor mechanism at the discharge end of the press. The conveyor extends laterally with respect to the direction of discharge of the press and has a width corresponding generally to that of the given length of the metal sheets. Accordingly, the full width of the conveyor is utilized when sheets of the given length are palletized. However, particular customer orders may require the palletizing of metal sheets of a length less than half the width of the conveyor and, while such previous palletizing apparatus is operable to achieve stacking of such shorter sheets, it is only capable of positioning one such stack on the side of the conveyor adjacent the press. Accordingly, in such situations the remaining width of the conveyor cannot be utilized. More particularly in this respect, the palletizing apparatus and conveyor may be capable of handling sheet material which is ten feet long in the direction of discharge. If it then becomes necessary or desirable, for example, to palletize sheet material from the press in lengths of eighteen inches with respect to the direction of discharge, it will be appreciated that less than one-sixth of the width of the conveyor can be utilized. This, of course, results in uneconomical utilization of the conveyor either for transporting or for temporary storage of palletized sheet material, and inefficient utilization of the palletizing apparatus. Moreover, floor space and economical considerations make it impractical to provide a plurality of shearing presses and corresponding palletizing mechanisms for handling sheet material of a number of different lengths.